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All the Asia Disney!

Hi all, I'm in the very early stages of planning the ultimate Asia Disney getaway. We want to go in April 2018, and we want to hit Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Sea, Hong Kong Disney, and Shanghai Disney. Debating also throwing Universal Tokyo in there, but not sure if that'll just be too much.

Any tips/tricks/must-do things/must stay there/must not stay there type of advice? I've been budgeting assuming Disneyland hotels, because then I figure I'm budgeting for "worst-case scenario," but not sure if it's just as easy to stay at hotels that are off-property. I'm definitely willing to pay the ridiculous prices if it's a lot easier to get to and from the parks.

Also, I love the Unofficial Guide to WDW -- does anyone know of a good travel book that's similar for the Asia parks?

I don't have any advise but am also planning a similar trip. Not sure when, maybe 2020? We will also hit up Legoland Japan if possible, but that's probably not everyone's cup of tea.

Please keep posting your own progress even if no one else replies - I would love to read all about your trip planning.

Yay, will do! The more I look, the more Universal Tokyo looks EXACTLY like the Universal parks in CA and Florida... aside from a bit of Hello Kitty, I'm not finding a reason to go there too. I'm all about Harry Potter, but nothing there seems unique to Japan. I didn't even know there was a Legoland in Japan! Though considering I live in San Diego and still haven't been to the one in Carlsbad, I'll probably just stick to the Disney :-)

Right now I'm mainly just monitoring prices of flights/hotels/tickets. It's looking like most things can't be booked until 6 months out, so I'll just be obsessing and waiting (im)patiently in the meantime!

Unless I'm missing something, it looks like I'm going to need separate tour guide books for each park (can't find one that covers multiple). Anyone have a favorite? My favorite from Paris and WDW (Unofficial Guide series) doesn't have books for any of the Asia parks.

Unless I'm missing something, it looks like I'm going to need separate tour guide books for each park (can't find one that covers multiple). Anyone have a favorite? My favorite from Paris and WDW (Unofficial Guide series) doesn't have books for any of the Asia parks.

This is a great source of info on Tokyo Disney Resort plus they just did a trip and trip report to Shanghai Disneyland http://tdrexplorer.com/ We stay at the Tokyo Bay Hilton while visiting TDR plus we've stayed at the Miracosta for a couple of nights (fun to do once, but much more reasonable to stay at the Hilton or the other hotels along the Tokyo Disney monorail route. Another more irreverent, but entertaining source of information is http://www.honorablerat.com/ (mostly food, but other Disney and Tokyo subjects too).

Getting a little more detailed in my plans... Those who have been to the Asia parks -- do you think it's necessary to have two full days at each park? Or are there certain parks that are similar enough to the U.S. parks that one day will suffice? I'm particularly thinking of Hong Kong, but I'm also debating whether we need four days in Tokyo (two in each park), or whether a full day in each park and a third day to hop between the two and do the "leftover" items would work.

Getting a little more detailed in my plans... Those who have been to the Asia parks -- do you think it's necessary to have two full days at each park? Or are there certain parks that are similar enough to the U.S. parks that one day will suffice? I'm particularly thinking of Hong Kong, but I'm also debating whether we need four days in Tokyo (two in each park), or whether a full day in each park and a third day to hop between the two and do the "leftover" items would work.

I went to TokyoDL in 1996. Alot has changed since then I imagine. But from what I have read over the years about TDL & DisneySea. They do not allow park-hopping like they do here in the US. If you were to get a 3 day pass for instance, you would do a full day at TDL, then the second day at DisneySea. Then you would have the choice of either park on the third day. Also, I understand the lines are amazingly long. You defininitely need lunch & dinner reservations. Otherwise you might end up eating at 10am. I'm guessing that most of the CM's have a bit of understanding English.

Getting a little more detailed in my plans... Those who have been to the Asia parks -- do you think it's necessary to have two full days at each park? Or are there certain parks that are similar enough to the U.S. parks that one day will suffice? I'm particularly thinking of Hong Kong, but I'm also debating whether we need four days in Tokyo (two in each park), or whether a full day in each park and a third day to hop between the two and do the "leftover" items would work.

When we visited Hong Kong Disneyland, we went to the park for 2 days. We took it slow, and also spent time in our room at the Disneyland Hotel just relaxing. I think you can easily do the park in one full day.

So, we've almost certainly decided to move this trip to the left. It will now be in October 2017, likely a week or two prior to Halloween. Any fun Halloween visiting tips? Do they do the after-hours trick-or-treat parties like Disneyland and WDW at any of the Asia parks?

We just got back from both TDL and HKDL, but missed all the Halloween stuff. I don't think they do the after hours parties, but I could be wrong. The Christmas decorations were amazing, but there was very little to buy in the way of decorations - it was very generic stuff, and not much of it.

Going back to your questions about time in the parks, as oregontraveller said there is no initial park hopping allowed in Tokyo. Day one is one park, day two is the second, and days from there are then up to you, although I think you can park hop at that point. We did two days in each park, and of the two, Tokyo DisneySea was our favourite, it was utterly amazing. We stayed in the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay, which was really lovely and quite literally just over the road from a monorail station - very handy.

Hong Kong Disneyland COULD be doable in a day, but we took 2 days and wandered slowly round, as the humidity at the time made it impossible to rush anywhere. There are two amazing lands that are unique to that park, Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch, both of which are lots of fun. We loved this park as it was quite small, very green and lush, and had a background of mountains all around it. Since our return, I've read that there are expansions coming in the form of 2 new lands and a bigger castle, so I think we may have to go back at some point!

We just got back from both TDL and HKDL, but missed all the Halloween stuff. I don't think they do the after hours parties, but I could be wrong. The Christmas decorations were amazing, but there was very little to buy in the way of decorations - it was very generic stuff, and not much of it.

Going back to your questions about time in the parks, as oregontraveller said there is no initial park hopping allowed in Tokyo. Day one is one park, day two is the second, and days from there are then up to you, although I think you can park hop at that point. We did two days in each park, and of the two, Tokyo DisneySea was our favourite, it was utterly amazing. We stayed in the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay, which was really lovely and quite literally just over the road from a monorail station - very handy.

Hong Kong Disneyland COULD be doable in a day, but we took 2 days and wandered slowly round, as the humidity at the time made it impossible to rush anywhere. There are two amazing lands that are unique to that park, Mystic Point and Grizzly Gulch, both of which are lots of fun. We loved this park as it was quite small, very green and lush, and had a background of mountains all around it. Since our return, I've read that there are expansions coming in the form of 2 new lands and a bigger castle, so I think we may have to go back at some point!

Went to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Seas in April 2016. Great time to go. Before Golden week and after school break. I don't think any Disney park can prepare you for how early people line up to get into the park. Disney Seas opened at 8 AM. We thought we would get there are 7 am to be safe. We also stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and received the early entry, yes its only 15 minutes early, but it sure helped. When we arrived we were shocked at how many people were in line. It went from the entrance gates all the way to the farthest point and then curved around. It had to be 2-3 football fields long, and there were 12-15 lines that long. I was so happy we had early entry as our line was a 1/4 of that. From what I found out people get there very early. Lines in the park weren't too bad this day, hour usually for most everything. We really planned our fastpasses and didn't have to wait too long for the big rides. Disney Seas is absolutely stunning. Never seen a theme park like it. I could spend a day walking around starring at everything. 2 days would be perfect. My biggest suggestion would be to not read too much about the rides or look at too many photos. I hate spoilers so I avoided that at all costs. When I went on the rides my mouth dropped and I was truly amazed. A friend of mine knew every little detail and said it ruined it a bit for him.

Food is not too bad compared to American disney parks. The pizza rolls and popcorn flavors were fun. Ate at Megellans and Columbia, both great sit down restaurants.

There are some ticket/room packages you can do that include fastpasses. Check the Disneyland Tokyo website for that.

Just got back from Shanghai Disneyland in December - I think 2 days is plenty with 1 day a possibility if you only want to hit the highlights. However, much depends on the crowds and weather. Crowds were light on our 1st and 2nd day (a rainy Wednesday and Thursday), but got heavier on Friday and the weekend (no rain, but cold). Same goes for the Tokyo Disney parks also, although those will be more crowded.

Does anyone know when Shanghai posts new blocks for hotel booking?? I would've thought I could book six months out, but when I search right now it only shows me options through 6/30. I'm really hoping I don't have to wait until four months out to finalize my trip :-(

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